Feuilletons and Causeries on a Variety of Subjects

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La Que Se Fue

Today Martine left me. I drove her to the airport and we said our tearful good-byes. It was another blisteringly hot Santa Ana Wind day with triple-digit temperatures. I spent some time in the Santa Monica Library on Ocean Park and then did a little grocery shopping.

A week ago, my Mexican neighbor Luis Sanchez suggested we go to La Parrilla in East Los Angeles and hire some mariachis to sing La Que Se Fue, “She Who Went Away.” Here are the words in English to this Norteño classic by Elefante:

Everything I was looking for was within her,

but she disappeared,

one bad day, without thinking,

she just left.

How I wish,

that this song didn’t hurt,

oh, oh, oh if only you knew.

oh, oh.

Chorus:

That the sadness is sinking me,

that I’m drinking this pain,

that my life is almost dead,

oh oh oh if you knew.

Destiny charged me more than necessary,

It had no mercy

and even though they say you can’t get lovesick,

how I wish it didn’t hurt,

this song,

oh oh oh if only you knew.

Chorus:

That the sadness is sinking me,

that I’m drinking this pain,

that my life is almost dead,

oh oh oh if you knew.

I take her, where ever I go,

how I wish it didn’t hurt,

this song,

oh oh oh if only you knew.

Chorus:

That the sadness is sinking me,

that I’m drinking this pain,

that my life is almost dead,

oh oh oh if you knew.

I don’t see Martine’s departure as any kind of betrayal. After a dreadfully hot summer, she was tired of the heat, tired of Los Angeles, and a little bit tired of me. The funny thing is that we still love each other; and I dearly hope she will return. I have reason to think that she will, but I don’t know exactly what she will decide to do. My fingers are crossed.

In the meantime, here are the words to that Mexican song in the original Spanish: